''For the Term of His Natural Life'' is a 1908 Australian silent film based on the 1874 novel by the same name by

Marcus Clarke Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (24 April 1846 – 2 August 1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian, and playwright. He is best known for his 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'', about the co ...

. The film is an adaptation of MacMahon's stage adaptation of the novel. It was the fourth Australian feature ever made and is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. The 1908 film was the first screen adaptation of Clarke's novel, which was also later filmed in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, as a silent film known as "The Life of Rufus Dawes", 1927, again as a silent film (the most expensive produced in Australia to that time) and

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, as a television mini-series.

Synopsis

The film's plot was a collection of highlights from the novel, such as *"The Convict Mutiny in the 'Malabar'", *"The Burning of the 'Hydaspes'", *"The Murder on Hampstead Heath", *"The Solitary of Grummet Island", and *"The Life and Death Struggle Between Gabbett and his Famished Escapees". The movie kept the tragic ending of the novel, with Rufus Dawes and Sylvia perishing in a storm after Reverend North had helped Dawes escape.

Cast

Martyn Keith Martyn Keith was an Australian actor, writer and director who worked during the silent era. In 1912 he worked as an acting teacher in Lismore, New South Wales where he also performed in plays for his own company. Select filmography *''For the Ter ...

as Rufus Dawes *Rosie Knight Phillips as Sylvia Vickers *Mrs Barry Lane as Mrs Vickers *Frank Kenn as Lord Bellasis *

Augustus Neville Augustus Neville was a New Zealand-born actor who appeared in a number of the early films for director Raymond Longford but was best known for his stage career in Australia, particularly in works by William Shakespeare. He worked for many years wit ...

as Gabbett *Roland Conway as Reverend North *Mr Jerdan as Reverend Meekin *Fred Francis as Lieutenant Frere *Charles Morse as Jemmy Vetch

Production

The MacMahon brothers, James and Charles MacMahon, had enjoyed success producing a version of the novel on stage, and allocated a considerable budget for the movie, including a shooting schedule of eight weeks and location work in Port Arthur. The scene involving the burning of a sailing ship was staged with a model ship in a tank.

Reception

Based on a popular stage adaptation of the novel, the movie was a big success at the box office, running for eight weeks in Sydney at Queens Hall in 1908. It played in cinemas on and off until World War I. Screenings were usually accompanied by an actor, who would provide descriptive commentary to what was on screen."His Natural Life" by Biograph"
''The Brisbane Courier'' 24 December 1909: 2, retrieved 26 November 2011

References

External links

*
''For the Term of His Natural Life''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...